‘THIS SHOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED’

I have been a police officer for 19 years. I love my job and serving my community. I have learned over the course of my career to never assume anything. As I watched the events unfold on July 6, 2016, on a Facebook Live feed, I thought that there must be more that happened. There must have been such a threat that wasn’t captured on this video, that forced Officer Yanez to feel his only option was to shoot into a vehicle with a child in the back seat.

Over the past two days, I have listened to the audio interviews. I have read the documents. And then I watched the dash cam video. And it broke me. Officer Yanez was in a position that if he perceived a threat, he could have disengaged. He could have taken other steps to ensure everyone’s safety, and not have forced this outcome.

Shooting a seat-belted man, with a child in the back seat, was not the only option. Until those of us who wear the badge are willing to stand up and speak out when we see things that are wrong, and lead hard conversations, how can we ever expect change? How can we ever expect to rebuild trust within our communities? Barbecues and pick-up basketball games are nice, but that’s not going to do it.

So today, I stand up and speak out, even if it means standing alone. To the family of Philando Castile, to those that loved him, and to everyone who watched that video and felt broken inside, I am sorry. This shouldn’t have happened. His life mattered.

Angela KamoskeThe writer is a detective with the Madison, Wis., Police Department.

UNNECESSARY AND EXPENSIVE

I’m responding to the writer of the June 22 letter “Information for officers.” He suggested that information be placed on a driver or vehicle owner’s DMV records indicating he or she is “registered” to carry a gun. That seems like a good idea; however, it is highly unnecessary. Officers are trained to approach every motorist with the thought the individual may have a gun. The difference between permit holders and non-permitted (illegal) carriers is that permit holders have an expectation of behavior based upon mandatory training. Permit holders have training instructing them to keep their hands still and visible to the officer. They should tell the officer they have a “carry permit” and are indeed carrying at that moment. They should tell the officer exactly where the gun is located — for example, “holstered near my right hip,” “in my purse” or “in my left pants pocket.” Finally, they should ask the officer how they would like them to access their billfold or purse to get their driver’s license and any other documents, especially if the gun is located near it.

Adding items to the state database is an additional expense to all of us and wouldn’t really keep officers safer. Besides, most carry-permit holders never carry a firearm with them. The responsibility lies upon the permit holder who wishes to carry a firearm to act in a manner that would keep everyone safe.

Kirby Beck, Coon RapidsThe writer is a retired police officer.

ENOUGH

All right. Enough already of the front-page coverage of a legal trial that has been decided by our rule of law and should be accepted by everyone (“Evidence in Yanez case released,” June 21). It has been decided by a jury — not to everyone’s satisfaction, but by the accepted constitutional and legal standards of this country — and now should be put to rest and off the front-page coverage that now only contributes to those who do not want to accept it and raise the level of hate and division in our country.

R.J. Houck, Roseville

TAX AND SPEND

Get me out of Ramsey County. The commissioners just voted to double the transit tax on our purchases (“Ramsey County raises sales tax for public transit,” June 14) and now they voted to double the wheelage tax on our cars (“County approves doubling annual wheelage tax to $20,” June 21). Tax, tax, tax and spend, spend, spend are all they know how to do. Well, how about cut, cut, cut please? That is what I want. Cut spending.

Ron Erickson, Maplewood

THE NEW FAIR FOOD

Uff Da: I just read the list of the new fair food (“31 new foods to try at the State Fair,” June 21) and the ingredients, and am hoping there will be more EMTs at the fair — hopefully close to some of the eating places listed, for these foods could be described as a heart attack on a stick (if a stick is involved). It appears that a place that sells fresh fruit and salads would be welcomed.

Karen Inman, St. Paul

TOBACCO RESTRICTION

It’s time for St. Paul, which has long been a leader, to again stand up to the tobacco industry to improve the health of our community. The Minneapolis City Council recently introduced a proposed ordinance to add menthol tobacco to its flavored tobacco restriction. St. Paul has a similar restriction limiting the sale of flavored tobacco to adult-only stores. Menthol is the most popular and alluring flavor of all, and it needs to be included with other flavors. Studies show menthol makes it easier for youth to start smoking and makes it harder to quit smoking.

The tobacco industry uses insidious targeting of African Americans and other minorities, women, youth and the LGBTQ community to maintain its profits. That’s why 88 percent of African American smokers and 44 percent of youth smokers use menthol. St. Paul has an opportunity to change those numbers.

BoNiita Mahe, St. Paul

REIMBURSEMENT

I read with keen interest the article (June 21) about the board of education’s decision to pursue a one-year lease on the soon-to-be-vacant Crosswinds Middle School in Woodbury (“St. Paul district pursues late bid to save Crosswinds”).

I was executive director of plant planning and maintenance for the school district at the time we conceived of the plan to build the school; acquire the land; and pay the designers, legislative consultants, attorneys, soil analysis team, surveyors — you name it. We led the consortium of several districts in the huge effort to make the building happen. We were the district that willingly consented to lead on behalf of the East Metro Joint Integration District, just as we had done for the tri-district elementary school prior to this project. Our district was not reimbursed for the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hours of work we invested in the interest of the integration of east metro schools. Because the district is not reimbursed on a “per-project basis,” we did not track our time on the project, or on any other projects. Had we taken on a project on that basis, it likely would have compromised funding for the whole thing at the Legislature.

Now that the program is closing down, I would like to suggest that the district lease the building as proposed for one year, but that we insist on the recognition of “prepaid rent” in the form of our huge and unreimbursed time and effort toward the building’s existence.